1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to public switched telephone networks (PSTNs) and more particularly relates to a method and apparatus used by field service technicians for provisioning or administering such networks, such as, for example, activating service to a customer. Prior systems required a field technician to call into a switching control center or a recent change memory administration center (RCMAC) to request that the control center personnel manually obtain the translations and generate the recent change.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Public switched telephone networks serve their customers by providing information signals from a Central Office (CO) of the telephone company to the customer premises equipment by the local loop. The local loop, also known as the subscriber loop, consists of the wires, poles, terminals, conduit, and other outside plant items that connect customer premises equipment to the central office of the local exchange carrier. Recognized as an essential part of the telephone infrastructure, the local loop still requires extensive manual labor by field technicians who install cable and perform any necessary maintenance. Billions of dollars are invested in copper wire, conduit, pole lines, buried cables, and all the other elements that comprise loop plant. The field technicians are therefore responsible for connecting the end telephone user to the central office, and includes the responsibilities of installing during construction telephone lines, typically for up to 1,000 subscribers, routing the wire to the central office switch, and activating the circuit path to obtain a dial tone. In addition, enhanced services may need to be installed, depending on the requirements of the user, for example, call waiting, three-way calling, call forwarding, etc.
The field technicians are also responsible for the maintenance and upgrades of a local loop equipment. Such maintenance includes rerouting telephone lines after weather hazards, or upgrading existing wire, for example from copper to optical fiber.
Once the telephone lines have been installed at a subscriber's address, activation of the service must be performed in order to provide telephone service to the subscriber.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the basic structure or arrangement of the customer and telephone company facilities for providing telephone service or connection between a telephone caller and a telephone receiver destination. As illustrated in FIG. 1, telephone sets 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d, 1e represent different addresses or customer locations which receive and initiate telephone calls. In order for a customer location or address to establish or receive telephone service, each location or address must be physically connected to a central switching office or central office (CO) 3a, 3b, 3c via a physical copper cable pair or fiber optic cable. The cable pair which connects customer locations 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d, 1e often require intermediary connections via cross connect devices 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d and 2e. In this situation, there may be several legs of cable pairs 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d, 5e between cross connect devices 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, 2e. The combinations of cable pairs which connect the customer location to the serving CO is commonly referred to as "outside plant". Central offices 3a, 3b, 3c are connected together via trunk lines 7a, 7b.
Once the customer location is connected to the CO via an in-coming frame at the CO 3a, 3b, 3c, the customer location must also be allocated office equipment (OE) which provide the specific calling features requested by the customer location. For example, the customer may request such features as call waiting or call forwarding which require different OE or different configurations of OE in CO 3a, 3b, 3c. Once the customer location is able to access the CO, the customer location may be connected via a CO to another customer location serviced by the same CO, such as customer location 1a calling customer location 1b which is connected or switched by CO 3a. Alternatively, the customer location may be connected to another customer location which is serviced by a different CO. For example, customer location 1c will be connected to customer location 1e via COs 3b and 3c, and cable trunk 7b.
The combination of outside plant and OE which is allocated or "provisioned" for a customer location is typically referred to as customer facilities which are always associated with the customer location until the customer location decides to disconnect service, e.g., the customer location moves from one calling area to another calling area. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the arrangement of the outside plant and OE can become extremely complicated, particularly in view of the quantity of customer facilities which must be provisioned for each customer location.
The current state of the art of provisioning of residential services to customers of PSTNs, i.e., customer facilities, follows a series of steps not conceptually different from the steps that were followed in a manual provisioning environment some thirty years ago. The individual work steps have since been mechanized, and the mechanized steps have been connected with interfaces.
The steps necessary for conventional service provisioning are illustrated in FIG. 2. Service is negotiated with the customer at step 20, matching the customer needs with the available products and services. The first service that is negotiated is basic service which will determine the calling plan for the customer. This is followed by the negotiation of toll services and other optional services such as touch tone, custom calling services and maintenance plans.
The due date for installation is negotiated and scheduled, and a Telephone Number is selected from the PREMIS or Service Order Processor (SOP) systems. PREMIS is an on-line address-based system used by service representatives for service order negotiation. It provides street address, Living Unit (LU), previous credit status, equal access carrier data, facility availability, and Telephone Number (TN) selection capabilities. The service representative uses PREMIS to verify the address, determine the working status of the address, and determine the serving wire center and other common address information, such as community and tax codes. Based on the wire center serving the customer, the service representative is able to determine what services are available to the customer. Selection of the Telephone Number will be based on the wire center serving the area and the availability of the telephone number.
The service representative reviews the service request and prepares a service order that reflects the customer's requirements. The service order is then issued or released to the service order processor (SOP). The SOP checks the order in step 22 for format accuracy and determines what centers or systems should receive the service order. The service order is then distributed to the systems and centers.
The service order is next received by the Service Order Analysis and Control System (SOAC). The order is validated and checked for format accuracy. An initial determination is made for orders that might require manual work or testing. If the order might require work or testing, a planning message is sent to a Work and Force Administration/Dispatch Out (WFA/DO) system. WFA/DO system makes the final determination as to whether a dispatch or testing is required.
The Service Order Control system determines in step 24 if loop facilities are required for the order. This is based on Universal Service Order Codes (USOC) and Field Identifiers (FID) on the order. If a loop facility is required, an assignment request (AR) is prepared and sent to the Loop Facility Assignment and Control System (LFACS). The assignment request contains the address, order number, telephone number, and date due. An outside plant equivalency code (OEC) that has been determined based on the type of service is included in the request. The OEC designates the type of facility required for the request.
The service address is first matched with addresses in the Loop Facility inventory system. If there is an address match, the status of the living unit is checked to insure that there is not already working service at the living unit address. The terminal address is then determined. Once the service address and terminal address have been verified, a network facility matching the request is selected. After the facility is selected the information in the form of an assignment request response (ARR) is sent back to the Service Order Control system.
The Service Order Control system determines switch equipment requirements, prepares the request and sends an assignment request to the Switch Inventory system in step 26. The assignment request is received by the Switch Inventory system from the Service Order Control system. This request will contain information as to the type of switch facilities required, the loop facility that must be connected, the telephone number, the service order number, and the date due.
The loop facility and telephone number received in the assignment request are verified with the Switch Inventory system data. The status of each is checked to insure that the request can be completed as requested. The switch equipment is selected based on the requested switch facility, the loading of the switch and the jumper length to be connected. The selection also will determine if an existing jumper has been left in place. Based on these criteria, switch equipment is selected. The switching equipment which is typically used involves a stored program control switch (SPC) such as a 1ESS or 1AESS switch.
After the selection of switch equipment, the information is sent to the Service Order Control system. The Service Order Control system assembles the information received from the Loop Facility Inventory System and the Switch Inventory system. This information is formatted as an assignment section and placed on the service order. The assigned Service Order (SO) is then sent to the SOP. The SOP determines where the service order should be sent and distributes the service order.
The Service Order Control system also sends the assigned service order to the Work and Force system, whereby work is performed as required. If other work in the field or in the central office is required, this work is completed and reported back to the appropriate center or system. Work may include placing jumpers in the central office or in the loop facilities, connecting the customer to the network and placing inside wiring and jacks at the customer premise.
After completion of the service request the completion information is sent to the SOP. This information may include the completion time and date, any changes to the service order and any billing information that needs to be added for time and material charges.
The Service Order Control system determines in step 28 if memory administration is involved in the request and if so determines if it has the required information to prepare a translation packet to send to the Memory Administration System (MAS). The translation packet is then created. If a translation packet cannot be prepared, an image of the service order is prepared. The translation packet or the service order image is then sent to the Memory Administration System.
The translation packet or service order image (TP/SOI) is received and validated in the Memory Administration System which then determines what needs to be done to complete the request.
The Memory Administration System (MAS) creates a machine readable Recent Change (RC) message in step 30 to match the vendor specific switch type and generic. The RC message is then sent to the switch at a designated time and the switch is updated.
The SOP receives the completion information at 32 and prepares the completed service order for distribution. The SOP determines the distribution of the service order and the completed service order is distributed to all systems requiring the information. Thus, the service order is sent to a number of systems including Loop Maintenance, Billing, Directory, and E-911. The service order is also sent back to the Service Order Control system in step 32 to update the status of the facilities from Pending Connect or Disconnect to Working or some idle status. The Service Order Control system receives the completed service order and validates the format of the information, and determines the network requirements. In this case, since the order is completed, the requirement is to change the status of the facilities from Pending Connect to Working. If the request was for a disconnect this would change from Pending Disconnect to Disconnected.
The Assignment Request is sent to the Loop Facility system, which matches information received in Assignment Request with existing facility data and updates the status of the facility from Pending Connect to Working or from Pending Disconnect to Disconnected. An Assignment Request Response is sent to the Service Order Control system and switch facility requirements are determined. In this case, the requirement is to change the status of the facility from Pending Connect to Working or from Pending Disconnect to Disconnect.
At 34 an Assignment Request to the Switch Inventory system is sent to update the status of the facility and the Telephone Number. The Assignment Request is received from the Service Order Control system and the appropriate status changes are made. The status of the facility and the Telephone Number are changed. The Status Inventory system inventories and administers the use in aging of telephone numbers. When a telephone number is disconnected, it will be aged for a specified period of time before being reused. After the status of the switch facility and telephone number have been completed, a confirmation is sent to the Service Order Control system.
Referring to FIG. 3 there is shown a typical architecture for carrying out the above described methodology. The Service Order Processor (SOP) is shown at 106. The SOP 106 obtains the information from the customer calling for service and puts that information on the service order which is sent by the SOP 106 to a Facility Assignment Control System (FACS) 113. The FACS 113 is an automated facility assignment system that assigns loop facilities and office equipment to a subscriber address in response to the provisioning request or service order in order to provide telephone service.
FACS is an automated facilities assignment system which attempts to optimize the use of loop facilities and office equipment including jumper cables to minimize the amount of unused inventory and cost to the telephone service provisioning company. FACS, an on-line computer system, administers, inventories, and assigns the complete circuit from the customer's premises to the local serving office. FACS is the primary automated support for the provisioning work group since it keeps track of all interconnections and segments (working and available). FACS maintains inventories of outside plant (OSP) and central office (CO) facilities and uses the data to make assignments.
The service order is received from SOP 106 by the Service Order Analysis and Control system (SOAC) 110. SOAC is the controller of service order flow within the FACS 113 and handles most of the interfaces between FACS 113 and other systems, such as the Service Order Processor (SOP) 106. SOAC 110 reads the service order line by line and determines if FACS 113 can process the order. If the assignment requirements can be determined and met in an automated fashion, FACS 113 automatically assigns the service order. If SOAC 110 reads a Field Identifier (FID) or Universal Service Order Code (USOC) that is beyond the FACS' capability, the service order is sent to the service provisioning work center for manual intervention using perhaps LOMS 132. SOAC 110 also detects errors that are routed back to the originator for correction.
If SOAC 110 can completely interpret the service order, it builds Assignment Requests (ARs) which are sent to LFACS 112 and COSMOS 114 or SWITCH 118 to request outside plant facilities and central office facility assignments, respectively. After assignments are made, SOAC 110 receives Assignment Request Responses (ARRs) from LFACS 112 and COSMOS 114, merges and formats this data into a service order assignment section and automatically returns it to the Service Order Processor (SOP) 106.
SOAC 110 tracks all service orders and Line and Station Transfers (LSTs) through completion or cancellation. Status information is maintained on all service requests as well as the service order image and relevant data that results from processing.
SOAC 110 also includes the capability of supporting multiple SOACs residing on one or more machines. This capability is called SOAC Tandem. For orders that contain wire centers supported by more than one SOAC, SOAC Tandem provides tracking of all involved SOACs and the linking of assignment data generated by all involved SOACs. Hence, the SOP 106 only needs to communicate with one SOAC for any multi-SOAC order.
Depending upon the specific services requested, a Trunk Facility System (TFS), such as TIRKS, may be involved. A service order is sent to the appropriate SOAC 110 by the SOP based on the header wire centers for non-TFS involved orders or the Circuit Administrative Area for TFS involved orders. The particular SOAC 110 that receives the service order determines whether other SOACS potentially may be involved, based on the wire centers and/or NPA-NNXs appearing on the order. If there is more than one potentially involved SOAC, the SOAC 110 that receives the order is the controlling SOAC for the order and the other potentially involved SOACs are called the subordinate SOACs.
Conventionally, SOAC processing takes place in each involved SOAC to generate the necessary assignments for the wire centers involved in the SOAC. Each involved SOAC sends its SOP status and assignment data to the controlling SOAC. The controlling SOAC tracks and sequences all responses sent back by all involved SOACs. When all solicited responses and any subsequent unsolicited responses have been received by the controlling SOAC, the controlling SOAC analyzes the provisioning status and determines the appropriate response (if any) to return to the SOP. Assignment data returned by involved SOACs is linked by the controlling SOAC before it is sent to the SOP. Besides communicating with the SOP, the controlling SOAC is also responsible for communicating with all other order level SOAC interfaces, such as TFS.
SOAC also records the pass of a service order. The pass identifies the current phase of the order as determined by the service order issuance group. There are five pass types as described below:
1. Pre-completion (PRE)--The initial issuance of a service order.
2. Correction (COR)--A change to the initial service order prior to completion in the SOP.
3. Post Completion (PCN)--Notification that the service order has been completed without corrections in the SOP.
4. Completion with Correction (CPC)--A completion notice that identifies changes made to the service order at the time it was worked. This pass also completes the service order in the SOP. If a CPC pass is sent and SOAC detects that the changes may affect assignment, SOAC sends a notice to the service provisioning work center. IF necessary, the user updates the LFACS and/or COSMOS databases.
5. Cancellation (CAN) notification that the service order has been cancelled.
SOAC reads the changes on each new pass of a service order. If a COR pass is sent and changes are needed on the assignment, FACS attempts to automatically reassign the service with the necessary changes.
The service order is parsed out by SOAC and a determination is made as to whether there is a loop facility required for the order. An Assignment Request (AR) is made to the Loop Facility Assignment and Control System (LFACS) 112 where a loop facility is requested for the specified address. LFACS maintains a mechanized inventory of outside plant facilities, (e.g., facility addresses, cables, cable pairs, serving terminals, cross connection devices, loops, etc.) and assigns the outside plant facilities to ARs (Assignment Requests) received from SOAC as a result of customer service order activity. LFACS sends this assignment back to SOAC via ARRs. LFACS also generates work sheets for cable transfers and These activities are updated reconcentrations. mechanically upon notification of completion.
In addition, LFACS changes existing loop inventory with maintenance change activity and facility modifications via transactions input into the system by the user. Information once contained in Dedicated Plant Assignment Cards (DPAC) and Exchange Customer Cables Records (ECCR) for use in the manual assignment process is now maintained in an automated database. As a consequence of assignment requests from the Service Order Analysis and Control (SOAC) system or inquiries from Loop Assignment Center (LAC) personnel, LFACS applies appropriate algorithms to information contained in the database in order to provide appropriate responses.
The LFACS assignment process consists of two parts: the blocking function and the assignment function. The blocking function identifies the serving terminal. The automatic assignment function uses information provided by the blocking function in conjunction with an assignment algorithm appropriate for the type of service requested. The automatic assignment function can select reserved, connect-through, committed and spare pairs. If an assignment cannot be made in one of the above ways, a pair can be selected alternatively by breaking a connect-through which has remained idle for longer than a specified time period (overaged), by performing a line and station transfer, or by breaking an underaged connect-through. The order of the selection of pairs is controlled by parameters specified at the terminal or wire center level. In addition to automatic processing, LFACS supports a capability which allows a user to manually select and assign any OSP facilities.
The LFACS administration of circuit terminations and facilities allows for single-loop single-line circuit terminations, multi-loop single-line circuit terminations, and multi-party circuit terminations with the use of appropriate bridging rules. Two or more circuit terminations may share a common facility, e.g., cross-box or field bridging.
LFACS supports the assignment and administration of multiple outside plant, dedicated outside plant, and serving area concept. This includes the specific types of hardware associated with each type of administration. The LFACS assignment function processes customer initiated inward, outward and change activity for circuit terminations.
SOAC matches the address from PREMIS to a possible address in LFACS. If a match is found it proceeds with processing by matching that to a terminal serving the address. It then begins to select a pair back to the central office. Once this is completed, the Assignment Request Response (ARR) is sent back to SOAC and the loop part of the connection is fixed.
SOAC makes an assignment request to the Computer System for Mainframe Operations (COSMOS) 114 via Work Manager (WM) 116 or SWITCH 118. The WM links COSMOS to the other FACS components. Inquiries and transactions to COSMOS are sent through the WM which controls the load level of the message delivered to COSMOS. If COSMOS fails, the WM stores the ARs (Assignment Requests) generated by SOAC during the down time and distributes them to COSMOS when it is restored.
COSMOS maintains an inventory of central office facilities (e.g., office equipment (OE), tie pairs (TP), bridge lifters (BL), telephone numbers (TN). COSMOS assists the Network Administration (NAC) and Frame Control Centers (FCC) in managing, controlling, and utilizing main distributing frame and central office equipment, facilities, and circuits. The system performs preferential assignment of line equipment, frame jumper reuse, tie pair management for Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS), frame work management and includes extensive reporting capabilities.
COSMOS receives ARs from SOAC after a successful LFACS assignment and automatically assigns line equipment and certain miscellaneous central office equipment. COSMOS responds back to SOAC with ARRs. Cable transfers and reconcentrations generated by LFACS are automatically established in COSMOS. These transactions can be manually input into COSMOS if necessary.
The SWITCH system 118 is an operations system to inventory and assign central office switching equipment and related facilities. It allows companies to provision, efficiently and economically, a network that is comprised of both digital and analog technologies. The SWITCH system provides improved computing methodology and a new database structure to support quick incorporation of new technological developments and to accommodate differences in technology between vendors. The SWITCH system will support digital and other new technologies/services in a single, integrated, flow-through provisioning system. In particular, the SWITCH system is designed to handle ISDN inventory and assignment requirements, and to facilitate ISDN flow-through provisioning. The SWITCH system is also designed to support inventory and flow-through assignment capabilities as appropriate for digital overlay networks and integrated digital facilities.
The SWITCH system will provide integrated inventory and flow-through assignment control for circuit switches, packet switches, ISDN switches, derived channel technologies, and for any associated transmission equipment and intra-office facilities (e.g., tie pairs) required to support the provisioning of these switches and technologies. SWITCH is designed to support integrated line and trunk side provisioning requirements and will ultimately replace and expand both COSMOS and TAS functionality.
COSMOS or SWITCH attempts to match the facility obtained from LFACS with the F1 facility, and the Telephone Number selected by PREMIS. If a match is secured office equipment is assigned.
SOAC then sends the assignment request to LFACS, sends a planning message to the Work and Force Administration/Dispatch Out (WFA/DO) 120 and provides notification that there is a need to make a determination if there is any outside work to be done. After the assignment request response has been received from COSMOS, information is sent to Memory Administration Check System (MARCH) 122 for memory administration work and to the Remote Intelligent Distribution Element Support System (RIDES) 124, which handles the fiber electronics, if required. A Work Manager (WM) 126 is disposed between SOAC and MARCH. After the assigned service order is received at WFA/DO a mechanized loop test is initiated by the Loop Maintenance Operation System (LMOS) 128. After the service is completed, the LMOS host 130 will receive a completed service order for record maintenance.
Service orders that do not automatically flow through the provisioning process fall out of automatic processing and are managed by the LAC Operations Management System (LOMS) 132. LOMS assists the Mechanized LAC Assignment Center (MLAC) in management of Requests for Manual Assistance (RMAs). The primary function of LOMS includes the creation of work packages for assignment personnel and monitoring the flow of orders through FACS and the service provisioning work group. The entire conventional provisioning process may require up to two days to complete.
Two important work centers interface with FACS. These work groups are the Frame Control Center (FCC), and the Installation Control Center (ICC).
The FCC is responsible for the administrative, force control, work control, and analysis functions associated with the installation and maintenance of cross-connects of loop, special service, carrier, and message trunk circuits and their associated activities in central offices. The center is responsible for providing related order status and work completion information to the support systems, COSMOS and the TIRKS system, or to Order or Circuit Control Centers. The centers will also be responsible for the support of facility maintenance, sectionalization and/or substitution of facilities in connection with failures detected by routing testing or customer complaints.
The ICC has responsibility for and performs the administrative functions associated with work activities including:
Installation Force Management, PA1 Order tracking, PA1 Work assignment and dispatch, PA1 Field-force coordination and progress tracking, PA1 Force planning, PA1 Prepost completion dispatch testing, and PA1 Completion notification to the service order centers and to the customer when required.
The ICC performs these functions for installation work groups, which are the field forces responsible for installation of the service drop, protector, network channel terminating equipment, network terminating work, and network interface. The ICC interfaces with FACS through WFA/DO the Work and Force Administration/Dispatch-out system. This interface is optional and is not installed in all companies. Where WFA/DO and its interface to FACS do not exist, the ICC gets its information from FACS as a function of the normal service order flow. The WFA/DO interface speeds the process and provides additional automation to assist the work in the ICC.
As discussed above, a substantial amount of coordination is required between field service personnel and central office personnel in activating service, or in performing a cable throw or rewire. In a cable throw operation, existing cables are exchanged or rerouted by the field technician for new cables in the vault. The placement of the new cable requires a change of downtime for each line attributable to the cable. The cable throw may be either a cable to fiber conversion, or copper fiber cable to another copper fiber cable. A rewire refers to a procedure whereby a drop wire to a subscriber's living unit is disconnected from one feed terminal and rewired to another feed terminal. In either instance, the labor intensive practice involves close coordination between the outside plant technician, the construction maintenance center (CMC), the switching control center (SCC), and the recent change memory administration center (RCMAC). These systems require a field technician to call into a switching control center or on RCMAC to request that the control center personnel manually obtain the translations and generate the recent change. Thus, if field technicians or splicers are unable to coordinate changes with the central office, improperly assigned cable paths may result.
In addition, the hardware operation by the field technicians are completely dependent upon the specific hardware purchased by the telephone company. As switching technology becomes more advanced, efforts at performing cable transfer become more complex.
For example, FIG. 4 shows an exemplary telephone network system showing a central office 40 and a local loop 42. The central office includes a central office terminal (COT) 44, and a switch 46. The switch 46 may actually comprise several switches of the central office 40. As shown, the switch 46 includes an analog line 48a that consists essentially of twisted pair wire. The analog line 48a is coupled to the switch 46 and a main distribution frame (MDF) 50a. The analog telephone service is provided by the central office 40 on line 52a via the MDF 50a coupled to the analog path 48a. The analog line 52a provides twisted pair wires to a plurality of subscribers 54a-54d via drop or loop wires.
The switch 46 is also connected to a digital line that provides digital (DS1) service on path 52b after passing through the COT 44 and an MDF 50b. The COT 44 provides connections between the switch 46 and the remote terminal in order to provide dial tone, as well as dial tone requests. In a cable throw operation to replace the analog line 52a with the digital line 52b, the technician would first install a backtap 56 to each of the main distribution frames 50a and 50b. The backtap 52b duplicates service on the two lines 52a and 52b, such that the field technician obtains an identical dial tone on both the old and the new terminal, so that the central office 40 is wired to both facilities 52a and 52b. The field technician then would rewire all the telephone numbers of the old cable 52a to the new cable 52b, take down the old analog cable 52a, and remove the backtap 56, thereby leaving the new service on the new digital cable 52b, which supplies the DS-1 digital signal to a remote terminal 58 for conversion to a DS-0 line. The signal is supplied to feed terminals 60a-60e that supply subscribers, such as 64a-64c, via drop wires 62a-62c, respectively.
A substantial amount of coordination is required between the central office personnel and the field service technicians when performing the cable throw. In addition, problems are encountered in attempting a cable throw operation in integrated systems. In such systems the switch 46 would include the functions of the COT 44 and the MDF 50 in order to output signals directly from the switch 46 to the remote terminal 58 via a digital line 52c. In such cases, there is no place where a physical connection can be made to build a backtap, since the switch is implemented as an integrated system. Consequently, any cable throw operation requires substantial reconfiguration of the switch 46 by central office personnel.